Because every story has a Hollywood angle if you dig deep enough, even those involving the e-seduction of teenagers via the instant messages of a horny Congressman, the THR discovers that disgraced Republican page-predator Mark Foley was considered an "effective champion for the industry" and an "ally" by insiders:
While entertainment industry executives were shocked by the disclosure of e-mails and instant messages to a page that led to his resignation, they considered Foley an effective representative for them with the Republican Party — often considered a hostile environment for the industry. Foley, 52, resigned Friday after the e-mails came to light, and is at an undisclosed alcohol rehabilitation center.
"He was very effective," said John Feehery, a Republican, who is executive vp external affairs at the Motion Picture Assn. of America, the lobbying arm for the major Hollywood studios. "We saw him as an effective champion for the industry. It's tragic for a whole lot of reasons. There's the personal reason that it's tragic, especially for the pages. It's politically tragic for Republicans, and in the entertainment industry, we lost an ally." .
Foley's contacts within the industry are undoubtedly now seeing the rep's off-color telephone sign-off, "Whoops, gotta go! That hottie Billy's back from soccer practice and my Sidekick is blowing up!" in a more sinister light after the revelations of the last few days, and while they would never publicly condone his activities, they almost certainly won't hold anything against him should he once again prove useful to them in some capacity. Hollywood is, of course, a morally flexible town, where even the occasional, ill-advised quaalude-and-champagne-fueld hottub rape party won't necessarily stand in the way of a guy with a little impulse-control problem around teenagers from getting work.
- Disgraced congressman was popular in Hollywood [THR via Reuters]
